In most areas of civil law, there is often a two-step process people seeking relief from the courts have to undertake: 1) getting the court to make the order you seek, and 2) getting the other party to actually comply with that order. Nowhere is that more the case than with child support. In many cases, obtaining a child support order from the courts can be a relatively straightforward process, but actually getting the other parent to follow through on his or her responsibilities to make the child support order can be like pulling teeth. Fortunately, California law provides a number of tools for custodial parents to enforce child support orders on the parents who owe child support, and to obtain back payments with interest in the process. The terms of your child support order will dictate what the next steps are in making sure you receive the child support to which your children are entitled.
Is a Child Support Agency Already Involved?
Oftentimes, the court will involve a local child support agency (LCSA) in a custody/support matter to help facilitate the payment of child support. If an LCSA is already involved in your case, then you should contact that LCSA as soon as possible to inform them of the missing payments, and they will take the lead in obtaining your child support through wage garnishment.
Is There an Earnings Assignment in Effect?
California courts can impose an “earnings assignment” in any and all child support matters. Sometimes called “wage garnishment,” an earnings assignment is an order which goes to the employer of the parent owing child support ordering the employer to automatically deduct the child support payments from the parent’s paycheck and have the payments sent directly to you. Thus, it is the employer’s responsibility to make sure those payments are being made, no later than 10 days after receiving the earnings assignment. You should contact the employer to make sure the earnings assignment is received and being processed. If there is any issue with the employer failing to follow through, you can pursue several avenues through the family law courts to force the employer to comply with the earnings assignment and to make all back payments.
When Your Ex-Spouse is Not Making Direct Payments
If there is no earnings assignment in effect, this is often because the parents agreed to a payment system in which the paying parent would directly make payments to the custodial parent on the children’s behalf. If that parent is not making those payments, then you always have the right to go to court to demand that an earnings assignment be put in effect to force the payments. Sometimes when paying parents are made aware of this, they can be spurred into making prompt payments, but if you are at all concerned about that parent’s reliability, you may want to go ahead and go to court to have an earnings assignment made effective so that you will receive direct payments from his or her employer.
Paying parents are responsible for making all back child support payments that they have missed, and must include 10% annual interest on late payments. Failure to comply with a court order on child support can result in a contempt of court violation and the non-paying parent being sentenced to jail time.
Legal Help is Available in Your California Child Support Matter
At the Law Office of Kelley C. Finan in Torrance, we work exclusively in family law matters. We are dedicated to helping parents get the child support their kids are entitled to under California law. Contact us today at 424-255-3797 to schedule a consultation to talk about we can help you obtain the child support your children are owed.